[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English,
[00:01.970]this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.380]Aquaponics is a new agricultural method
[00:10.090]that combines growing vegetables and within fish.
[00:15.100]The word aquaponics is also new,
[00:19.800]it comes from aquaculture and hydroponics.
[00:26.060]Aquaculture means fish farming,
[00:29.920]and hydroponics means growing plants without soil.
[00:36.140]Supporters of aquaponics say it is an efficient way
[00:41.550]to produce high-quality healthful food.
[00:46.270]However, it is yet unknown
[00:48.780]if the method is an environmental
[00:52.020]or financial improvement to traditional farming.
[00:56.490]240 fish swimming in a container or tank
[01:02.650]at Cylburn Aquaponics farm in Baltimore, Maryland.
[01:07.770]Farm manager Laura Genello feeds them breakfast.
[01:13.630]"Hey, guys."
[01:23.200]The tank water is rich with fish waste,
[01:27.520]it flows through a system that removes what is not wanted,
[01:31.770]the water then flows into vegetable crops nearby.
[01:36.240]The floating farm grows
[01:38.050]about five to ten kilograms of produce a week.
[01:41.860]Ms Genello expects to raise about 250 kilograms of fish a year.
[01:49.330]Environmentalist like aquaponics because fishing
[01:54.520]is threatening the exists of many wild species.
[01:58.530]At least half of the world's food fish are raised in farms,
[02:04.490]waste from all those fish causes pollution.
[02:10.110]Dave Love is a researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
[02:15.220]"There are fewer and fewer fish in the ocean
[02:17.280]and more and more fish will be raised on farms.
[02:19.480]The trick is, how do we do that responsibly,
[02:22.950]sustainably and in ways that make fish farmers money?"
[02:27.110]Ellen Perlman is an aquaponics farmer also near Baltimore.
[02:32.970]She is growing lettuces and other vegetables
[02:37.130]she says are hard to find in winter.
[02:40.290]"They grow well in greenhouses in the winter,
[02:42.940]and where also you gonna get a fresh red romaine,
[02:47.200]and this is grown locally in a greenhouse
[02:50.210]in the middle of the winter. "
[02:52.370]However, the fish tanks need to be heated
[02:55.260]when the temperatures fall, that costs money.
[02:59.680]It is one reason Ms Perlman has not made a profit yet.
[03:04.600]Back at Cylburn, Laura Genell notes that aquaponics still move.
[03:11.100]She says parts of the system still need improvement.
[03:16.260]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Special English.